• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

New vs. Repaired Frame

Share this page

S

sfovc2003

Senior Member
Offline
Just had my BJ7 media blasted (everything but the body skins). Contrary to everyone's initial opinion that it was a pretty rust free car, it came out looking like a piece of Swiss cheese when all of the gunk and undercoating were removed, including the rear portions of the frame (so much for expert opinions). Panels are easy to replace, but I'm trying to decide whether I should just buy a new frame from Kilmartin in Australia for about $4500. I'm told it's stiffer than the repaired frame would be (heavier gauge steel). Any thoughts from you forum members?
The car also seems to have BJ8 doors which I want to replace with the correct BJ7 ones (there are slight differences). Any ideas on where to find a good set of the correct doors (other than new) here in Califoria?
Needless to say, this is a very discouraging period of the resto for me. Two steps back for every one step forward. At the rate I'm going, I will have the most expensive AH reso in the history of mankind. I expected to be underwater on completion, but not drowning.
Tony
Northern Cal
Tony Theophilos
 
Tony,

I may have a line on some doors (roadster not roll up window) Bay Area.

Tracy
 
Oops sorry my bad. You need rollup window doors......
Guess I should read before I post.
 
Tony:
If rust is the culprit, I would seriously consider a complete framectomy. Kilmartin is one and another resource is Jule https://www.jule-enterprizes.com. Neither is cheap but you will at least know that you're not going to split in half on the freeway and the job was done right. My BJ8 frame was accident-damage repaired more than 15 years ago before these aftermarket frames were available. The grafted-on sections look different and even though the frame is very strong and the fix was done well, it is obvious to even a casual observer that the frame was repaired. This frightens some people and probably diminishes the resaleability of the car ultimately. Even considering the cost, I would have replaced the frame had I owned the car at the time and the parts were readily available. I don't know about the Kilmarten, but the Jule frame/chassis will even pass concours.

As for being upside down. I don't know anyone who has done a ground-up restoration (within the last ten years) of a Big Healey (or Jag) that isn't upside down - including and especially me! - unless they bought the car for peanuts and did all of the work themselves.

I believe I know your car and have a ballpark idea of the price range that you paid for it. In my opinion you can put a fair amount of dough into the resto before you're going to be lip-deep in the muck. You eventually get used to the taste of muck anyways
Best of luck,
Randy '68 E-Type OTS, '66 BJ8
 
How much of the frame is bad? Many areas or just one rear section? Check close for pin holes all over. Sometimes outside looks great but on close inspection pin holes are there and the inside can be bad which equals thinner metal.

If only a section is bad in the rear I would have it replaced and save a bunch. Someone who REALLY knows what they are doing can do a job that would be very hard to tell from original.
 
Hi Tony, Sorry to hear about your problem. However,emphatically regardless of the souce the new frames are even stronger than a good original frame.I would view the solution to your problem as an economic one.First, Jule in Canada is also a frame source which is a lot closer than "OZ" but there are taxes and fees to consider. This may also be the case when sourced from Kilmartin which will require transport across the US.Further, Jule can supply a complete Chassis ready for your rebuilt drive train,suspensions ,body panels and Trim,perhaps at a lower cost than trying to build up a chassis on a new frame using you existing chassis parts.I would run all of these scenarios before making a final decision,compare these costs aginst a good frame repair not to be totally ruled out.-FWIW---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif
 
It may help you sleep at night if you do not look at this as an expensive rebuild but as a "donation" to preserving a classic piece of history. Also there are parts of frames available depending on exactly what you need.

Bruce
 
Bruce! "Preseving a classic piece of history" can get very Pricy---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Any ideas on where to find a good set of the correct doors (other than new) here in Califoria?


[/ QUOTE ]

Tony,

A shot in the dark .. you could check with the Nocks at British Car Specialist to see what they have in the used department.
<https://www.britishcarspecialists.com>
Truly sorry to hear about your frame. To evaluate the scope of the rust problem you should measure the thickness of the metal in as many areas as possible. Anywhere you have a hole drilled in the frame can be measured with the right tools. Even worth drilling extra holes that can be welded shut later just to check how much material is in the rails, cross braces, etc. Senseless to replace the rusted out parts if the rest is thinned from internal rust.

Cheers,
John
 
If the rot is extensive you might consider it fortunate.

After all, you might have been cornering at speed (on a mountain haripin?) when it all let go....

I'm having to do the same thing with my Healey, I don't mind the expense (HA!), but doing (and paying) most all of it myself means its another couple years before I'm on the road.
 
I sympathize with you. I bought a 10 footer which looked pretty much rust free on the frame, with clean floors and rockers. The body had been repaired by the PO, but not to concours standards. I started on wanting to detail the engine compartment and install a new wiring harness. As I got into it I found more and more rust. I took the fram up to Jules Enterprises who are now working on it. After media blasting they basically had to rebuild the frame - this included work beyond their base package. The body panels also required a lot of work. I know I am going to have alot of money into the car when I am done, but I have now decided to completely rebuild the car, including replating bolts - this is maybe going overboard, but I figure it is a hobby and I can spread the financial pain over a few years. But at the end doing it right will hopefully give me major satisfaction. - I would do it right.
 
I don't deserve any sympathy- I more-or-less knew what I was getting into buying an acknowledged restoration project "cheaply". I had hoped for the frame to be useable but had allowed for the possibility that it might not be.

If things had worked out I'd be on the road sooner and with a bargain, if not then (as it happens) I'd enjoy the restoration a bit more.

Aren't I having fun?

https://www.britishcarforum.com/PHPhotoalbum/displayimage.php?pid=761

Maybe, just maybe, it'll be on the road late next year.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]

Bruce! "Preseving a classic piece of history" can get very Pricy---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

It certainly can and did for me. The reason I suggested using the word "preserving" instead of "restoring with hopes of getting one's money back someday" was purely psychological. It helped me sleep at night a bit better even though the costs were the same. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
OK Bruce Ill buy that.However, I just looked over a car that sold here for the equivalent of 35,000GBP and it still needs work!-FWIW---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
The thought behind this is when one buys a car thinking either zero or a few dollars will make it fine and one winds up spending 50 times more than expected. That is when I say to myself I am preserving history. It just makes me feel better than obsessing with the thought of how big a financial mistake I made. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
Yeah I guess so Bruce until you put your hand in your pocket. Cheers-Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
As they say in Greece, "...kath ena me to pono to, kai ago me toe komo.." (...each one with his pain, and me with mine..) Sorry to hear about the hidden rust. This seems to be a problem that is increasing as these cars get older. Many of us have been bitten by the "tin worm", but it isn't always a disaster. Continue checking to see if you can "dodge the bullet"and just repair. The botton line at the end of the day will have to be SAFETY, however it turns out. KALO TIHE kai MAEYA (good luck and enjoy)
 
[ QUOTE ]
As they say in Greece, "...kath ena me to pono to, kai ago me toe komo.." (...each one with his pain, and me with mine..)

[/ QUOTE ]

Most excellent /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif captures the essence of Healey custodianship
 
[ QUOTE ]
As they say in Greece, "...kath ena me to pono to, kai ago me toe komo.."

[/ QUOTE ]
So, in this context, that would be "Classical" Greek?
Jeff
 
Yeah, Jeff its Greek to me to.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif
 
Back
Top